It’s been a while since we’ve updated the Recruit-A-Friend program, but the time has come once again to close the doors for a bit and do a little remodeling. On Tuesday, October 15, we’ll be temporarily shutting down new Recruit-a-Friend sign-ups. Don’t worry though—the program will be back (and better than ever) before you know it.

While we don’t have an official date to share regarding the release of the updated Recruit-A-Friend (RAF) program, those whose accounts are already linked are not affected by this, and any unclaimed rewards will be redeemable once the program starts up again. You’ll also be happy to learn that the current reward will still be available when the Recruit-A-Friend program returns—in fact, players who participate in the upcoming program will have even more reward options available to them. We’ll have more details for you at a future point in time.

Crowd Control ListSo I just read the current CC List and noticed that the Demonology Warlock's Carrion Swarm is not on the knockbacks list. I don't know if this was left out intentionally.
Carrion Swarm does not DR, so it wasn't included on the list. There's actually a handful of CC effects like that.

Also, why is the Succubus/Shivarra Mesmerize a fear, and not a mesmerize cc?
This is for balance purposes. That said, we are looking at Seduction/Mesmerize for some potential changes in the future.

If at all possible, could you add a list of all CCs that don't DR?
I'd love to, but pulling that data is a lot trickier. To get technical for a second, the stickied list was pulled from the section of our database that stores info about diminishing returns. Effects that don't DR don't have an entry there, so the name never comes up.

That does mean, however, that if something isn't listed anywhere in that thread, it's either not affected by diminishing returns, or simply doesn't work on players at all. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

CC and Diminishing Returns
As our senior PvP designer Brian Holinka tweeted over the weekend, we've got some pretty solid goals for the future regarding crowd control. We do think it needs to be toned back a bit, both in the amount of CC effects available and in how frequently they can be used.

That said, CC is still an integral part of World of Warcraft PvP. Dealing with it intelligently, both in choosing when to use your own CC as well as reacting to opponent CC's, does have strong gameplay value.

Honestly going to guess they're getting the exact opposite of what they planned from it.
Our only "plans" were to try to make an admittedly confusing system less so. Confusion about which CC effects share DR's doesn't help anyone.

Regardless, you may want to take another look at that list. Not all of that information is correct.
What do you feel is incorrect? The info in that thread is taken directly from our database. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Dampening Effect
As a heads up to those that have raised concerns for the Dampening effect in regards to the affect it will have on Necrotic Strike and double Rogue; we're going to be taking another look at the way in which Necrotic Strike's healing absorb is affected by Dampening. We get that the absorb is the bulk of the ability's "damage", but there is still some concern that it would be too strong. We're also currently discussing the concerns that have been raised for double Rogue.

What about reflective shield? The glyph is supposed to reflect 70% of the damage absorbed. Since dampening should affect healing/absorb only, would it reflect the correct amount of damage?
The damage that's reflected won't change, it will still reflect 70% of the damage that's absorbed. The only difference is that the shield will reflect less overall damage due to the amount that can be absorbed being decreased. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Darker Nights
Darker nights aren’t simply pure aesthetics, they have a huge potential to affect real gameplay, it affects players’ reaction time, mood/emotions, and accessibility… and probably a few other things that we don’t even consciously take notice.
We know how everyone here feels about this, and while in theory “darker nights” sounds like a great idea, it all comes down to design.

Here’s a fresh quote from Mr. Crab himself:
“The artists are aware of this feedback and want to try and address it in the future. Too dark is hard to play of course.” (source) (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Next Connected Realms- Updated 10/14

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

As a part of the ongoing realm connection process, we are currently planning to connect Black Dragonflight and Skullcrusher during the maintenance on Tuesday, October 15. We will provide an update should there be any delays or issues in implementing this connection.

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

ClassesWhat is the intended difference between Major Glyphs and Talents? It feels like one toon customization interface with 2 UIs.
It's often the degree. Many of the major glyphs are interesting but would feel too lame claiming a precious talent spot. (Source)

f.ex I love in SWTOR that you MUST weave ST heals in even during AoE bc of CD; "spam AE" literally cannot be a solution.
We agree at a high level. Forcing that without being big jerks is trickier. For example CDs on all AE spells works, but ugh. (Source)

GC why don't you provide more insight into your method of balancing healers?
I don't really like to do this as a rule. The insight is interesting to some. I get that. (Source)
But my experience is some players just use any info for how we balance to lobby for buffs. (Source)
So we try to share philosophy more than specific heuristics or targets. (Source)

We still have input lag! This has not fixed it!
Fixing the input lag is extremely important and is a high priority right now. (Source)

I think players need smart heals because you designed encounters that way. Maybe if there was more single target damage...
Encounters are designed around class capabilities, not the reverse. (Source)

I've been playing since BC, but have yet to see hunters at the top of any sim dps...any chance of that ever happening?
Sims are generally bad at comparing class DPS since different authors of varying skills work on different components. (Source)
They are better when a good author can predict gear choices or rotations for your particular class. (Source)

Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)So you can show a shield model for warriors during shield wall and spell reflect but you can't show quivers for hunters again?
It's not that simple. Our animation system isn't built that way. (Source)Small idea for Hunters: while under Deterrence, we wield a random 2h melee weapon (or dual wield a 1-h weapon) from our bags.
Minor glyph idea maybe? (Source)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) Just look at WoL for 25 man and then say Paladins are fine.
Are we caught in a time loop here? My original reply was "meters are a terrible way to assess healer potency." (Source)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)Disc have too many advantages, again, yes. And Chakra.. dont want to get started on that one.
Actually, I'd like to. What would you ultimately want to see in Chakra? (Source)

CoH is even weaker than PoH in hps/hpm? The only benefit is its smart/rarely overhealing. So definitly agree here to.
If PoH is a better heal than CoH than how can you account for Holy using CoH nearly on cooldown? (Source)Not hard. CoH is a smart heal and has no cast time. Not rocket science?
Then PoH isn't in fact a better use of a click than CoH, which was the conjecture. (Source)

5% nerf to my Mastery. Why? Do HPriests -really- need a nerf? And we still have input lag! This has not fixed it!
It's too early to declare (especially from the outside) that any specific change did or did not do anything. (Source)
But if we decide the Echo change stays, we can consider buffing in other ways since we agree there isn't a balance need for it. (Source)

Do you think Discipline might be easier to get a handle on balance-wise if Spirit Shell was axed and auto-Aegis POH returned?
I think it's the flexibility of Atonement plus the penchant for sniping heals. I think they look better on meters than they are. (Source)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)thougts on raging blow doing more damage then execute atm? 4p is not viable as a fury warrior, and execute is just not used.
You spam Raging Blow? Or you just don't want to use any rage on Execute? (Source)
Looking at some parses, I see Execute as 6-7% of damage for heroic Fury warriors. Seems like they are using it? (Source)

Who cares? Its not as if you 'earned' it by any degree of skill or effort.

The entitlement people go on about... Yeah, its drippling from you. You get a Feat of Strength, you're gaining something. You're not having anything taken away. Unless you're talking exclusivity, in which case I don't give a rat's behind.

Who cares? Its not as if you 'earned' it by any degree of skill or effort.

The entitlement people go on about... Yeah, its drippling from you. You get a Feat of Strength, you're gaining something. You're not having anything taken away. Unless you're talking exclusivity, in which case I don't give a rat's behind.

so many people spout this shit until it is something that affects them. I personally have had the zhevra since '08 as well and it does serve as a pretty cool blast from the past when I see other people with it. We paid money and got it back at that time. Why SHOULD it come back in the exact same form. We aren't talking about like a recolor or anything, but the same mount that we have had for six years just coming back out of the blue to make blizz some extra money. I have plenty of exclusive shit, and I can live without it. But I know some people who do love it as their favorite mount. No matter what anyone says, seeing it all over the place again will take away from that for quite a few. Really cool mounts have been ruined by availability in the past to more than just a few players. was this really a neccessary cash grab

so many people spout this shit until it is something that affects them. I personally have had the zhevra since '08 as well and it does serve as a pretty cool blast from the past when I see other people with it. We paid money and got it back at that time. Why SHOULD it come back in the exact same form. We aren't talking about like a recolor or anything, but the same mount that we have had for six years just coming back out of the blue to make blizz some extra money. I have plenty of exclusive shit, and I can live without it. But I know some people who do love it as their favorite mount. No matter what anyone says, seeing it all over the place again will take away from that for quite a few. Really cool mounts have been ruined by availability in the past to more than just a few players. was this really a neccessary cash grab

Back in the day I recruited a couple of people and had two zhevras. I'm perfectly fine with this change. It's people like you, who are self entitled twats who feel it necessary to hold some meaningless pixel crack over someones heads, that make me cringe. Chances are most people who got the mount didn't even pay any money themselves. They just wheedled a friend into playing wow so they could get it. How the hell is that any sort of achievement. How is that in any way special? It isn't. So get off your goddamned high zhevra.

What's wrong with having something that 99% of the population doesn't have?
Why does everyone have to be able to have it too? Fuck that.

I'm sure you wouldn't care either then, if Blizz just had a Xmog panel with dropdown boxes for every slot, with every single piece of armor & every single weapon ever created that you could just pick & choose from to make your transmog.

What if GM went and remade carbon copies of all the rare Corvettes, and the Yenko Camaro, etc... for modern day prices, so they would be available to everyone, because it isn't "fair" that some people weren't around back then to get them.

Everyone gets trophies! There is no 2nd place! Bunch of new age pussies.

It could be a neon green tutu, but if it was available for one day for 3 hours and only 27 people actually convinced themselves that it was cool enough to pick up they WILL convince themselves that it's something amazing and worth lording over other people. Then, when all but 3 of those people quit the game over the course of 4 years and the audience of the game has expanded so much that there is actually a demand for such a unique item to be reintroduced to the current game populace (IE, the people who are currently paying the game designer's paychecks)....

Creating and upholding limited-edition items is not so much as good game design as it is picking at a psychological flaw that some people exhibit a bit too proudly. At absolute best it could promote the growth of a small but very long-term player core. At worst, digital hoarding and toxicity/elitism that could drive people away. In the long run, you just have to opt for what is essentially good for business and ethical to players.

Personsally I quite like the new model, but that stupid hanging chin bauble that does not actually "Hang" properly with movement and animation, just looks awful. Sticking out all stiff and ridged looks bad enough for me to not want to ride it, just so distracting and terribly awkward. If they don’t want to put joints/pivots on these types of designs, just don’t do it. Sadly it's becoming a bad lazy trend on their designs, and if they did it properly I would have LOVED them.

For people who recruited and haven't claimed their award this current system. So the system gets taken down. You haven't claimed the current systems reward, therefore when the system opens back up again, the people who didn't get to claim their nightwing will be able to as it is only available to THEM. It is not an option for the rest of the playerbase. Just those who haven't claimed their nightwing yet.

I love how the preview of Blood Elf warlock is from the chest down with exposed mid drift.

That's a picture of Jaina... the garb is a dead giveaway.

Why, however, she's being cradled by some evil Sylvanas-esque angel of death thing is kind of beyond me.

As for the recruit a friend mount thing... good. Maybe if I can coerce my lazy ass friends into playing WoW, I can add to my collection. Just need 2 more mounts to reach 200, and I don't want to buy any off the TCG or Blizzard store.

And as for the Hippogryph... it looks pretty neat (better than the "new gryphon" with broken as hell wings) but I don't quite get their infatuation with making feathers all "chunky and blocky." I don't feel that's a particularly good design angle to pursue... especially because the old hippogryph and gryphon models actually had pretty decent feather textures.

Last edited by Kaleredar; 2013-10-15 at 07:38 AM.

"Do not look down, my friend. Even in the darkest of times, there is always hope... Hope for a better day, hope for a new dawn... Or just hope for a good breakfast. You start small, then see what you can get." ~ Covetous Shen